Genericity Analysis for Path-Following Methods. Application in Unilateral Contact Elastostatics

Genericity results for sparse parametric optimization problems with equality and inequality constraints are obtained in this paper. Their impact on path‐following (e.g. load incrementation) methods for discretized elastostatic analysis problems with unilateral contact relations are considered in this paper. For the sparse problems which arise after a finite element method discretization, generically appearing singularities along the path of solutions are classified. Perturbations involving only a minimal number of parameters are shown to be sufficient to guarantee genericity. Stability and uniqueness questions for the solution along the path are examined in this way. These results can be used for the solution of inequality mechanics (unilateral) problems by means of load or displacement incrementation techniques; in particular, the choice of appropriate approximation (e.g. order of finite elements) and of the solution algorithm can be based on the results presented here.